Tangles in the blood
by Weskette
Summary: Chris takes Jill on an adventure away from the tower to see the lanterns. But her mother realizes she's missing. Based on Tangled.
1. Chapter 1

**Tangles in the blood**

Mother Nature, at one point in time, decided to gift the world with something amazing. It was a flower that possessed an unbelievable quality. It's necter, when injected into blood, cured any problem from the common cold to cancer. It was a dull orange color with a dark green stem that sunk into the dirt. Over all, it looked ordinary.

A woman came along by the name of Excella Gione. She had been betrayed by the man who was supposed to be her partner. He had injected a horrible virus into her blood. She was slowly dying. But she found the flower. She saw the qualities it posessed and knew how to use them.

She hid the flower away at the edge of the kingdom, and slowly cured herself of the virus using the nectar.

At the center of the kingdom was the castle. Within, there was the king and queen. Both were generous to their people, and in return were loved. But the queen, who was heavily pregnant, grew sick. The king sent guards out to search every inch of the kingdom for a cure.

Excella had been out collecting the nectar from the flower when she heard the guards approaching. She paniced and ran. In her haste she forgot to cover the flower as she left.

She hid and watched as the soldiers uprooted the flower, her source of life. The soldiers returned to the castle, bearing the hope for their queen and her child. The flower did it's work, saving the queen. She gave birth to a beautiful little girl with soft brown hair and crystal blue eyes. And her name was Jill.

Proud of their new daughter, the king and queen released a lantern into the night sky to celebrate. But their happiness was short lived.

Still suffering the effects of the virus, Excella snuck into the castle. She found the babe, asleep in her cradle. The child stirred, looking up with sleepy blue eyes. Excella slipped her arms under the baby and began to hum before escaping through the window.

When morning came and Jill was gone, panic spread. The king sent out his guards again, searching for his precious little girl. But after months and months, there was no sign of the lost princess. For every birthday that passed for the lost child, the king let go of thousands of lanterns, praying the princess would come home.

Deep in the forest at the edge of the kingdom, there was a tower. Excella had brought Jill there, and hid her away.

Jill's blood had a special attribute do to the flower. It acted as an antidote to any poison, a cure to any cancer. If one were to place it on another's cut, the cut would heal in seconds. But most importantly of all, Jill's blood was what fought back the virus that plagued Excella. With Jill's blood, the virus began to slowly recede.

Excella raised Jill in the lonely tower, never letting her see the outside world. Jill grew up, knowing Excella as her mother and the tower around her as protection. Excella taught her self defense, cooking, and anything else she thought might be necesary.

But every birthday, Jill would sneak down and watch the lanterns float up in the sky. She didn't realize that each lantern was a secret message from her father, asking for her to come home.

* * *

><p>Jill smiled as she cracked an egg into the frying pan before her. After a moment, she scooped up the finished product, a mixture of potatoes, peppers, onions and eggs, onto her plate.<p>

The chameleon on her shoulder butted his head against her neck and grumbled.

"Hold on! I'll get you your breakfast in a second!" she laughed, scooping him up and placing him on the table. The chameleon's name was Josh. He was the only animal that had made it to the top of the tower and planned to stay.

Jill took a knife from one of the drawers and proceeded to cut up an apple. She placed about half of it on a plate, and put a few grapes next to it. "Here." She placed it infront of him.

Josh squeeked his thanks and grabbed a grape.

"So, what should we do today?" Jill asked him before taking a bite of her breakfast. Josh used his tail to point to the window. "No, you know we can't do that. How about... hide 'n seek?" she suggested. He rolled his eyes and pointed to the window again. "Hide 'n seek it is."

Josh huffed, and then made an annoyed noise.

"I know you always lose, but that's not my fault! You're a chameleon! You should be able to hide better!"

Josh replied with another mixture of sounds.

"Fine. We won't play."

After breakfast, Jill got to work. Every morning, she did her chores first. Sweeping, cleaning, and the dishes. But that barely took up anytime. Next, she went to her bookshelf and grabbed two of her favorite books. One was The Wind in the Willows, and the other was simply titled Science.

She had already read both multiple times, but when alone in a tower there wasn't much else to do. After reading, she would try and find something else to do. Josh wasn't very fond of hide 'n seek, so that was out. At least for today.

Suddenly, Jill was reminded of what happened in a day. The lanterns!


	2. Chapter 2

**Tangles in the blood**

"Mother's home!" Jill smiled. She went to the window and tossed down the rope ladder. "Good morning, Mother!" Jill greeted as Excella reached the window.

"Good Morning, my flower," Excella smiled, stepping into the room.

"Mom, I was wondering-"

"Darling, I'm sorry to ask you so early in the morning, but could I have another dose of your blood?"

"Of course!" Jill rushed over to the drawer of the dresser. From it, she took out a large needle. She carefully slipped the point of the needle into the crook of her elbow and drew out the normal amount of ccs of blood. She switched the needle with a new one and took Excella's arm.

As she injected the scarlet cure into her mother's arm, she sang in a quiet voice. "**Let blood refuse to flow... Reverse the pull of time... Whisper 'til the hurt, undoes and rewinds.**" She paused, took a breath and continued. "**Fight back the cruel disease... Prove wrong the retched crime... Whisper 'til the hurt undoes and rewinds...**"

Excella sighed as a cool sense of relief flooded over her. The disease was about to lose the war that it had begun to wage on her eighteen years earlier. It wouldn't be much longer before she no longer needed Jill's blood to survive.

"Mother, I was wondering if I could ask you something..." Jill started slowly.

"What is it, my flower?"

"Umm... I was wondering, Mother. Tomorrow, well, as you know, is... My birthday!" Jill smiled nervously before going on. "And I was hoping that you might... Bring me to see the floating lights..." Jill spoke the last of her words in an inaudible voice.

"Darling, don't mumble! You know how annoying that is," Excella spoke as she rolled her eyes.

"I said, I was hoping you would bring me to see the floating lights..." Jill repeated.

Excella was caught off guard. "The stars? You want to go outside? ...Why, Jill?" She stood and gave her daughter a contemplating look. "I've explained why we stay up here."

"I know, but-"

"We're safe up here! You're fragile, darling. But I guess I always knew you'd want to leave someday..." Excella put a hand to her cheek, faking concern. "Maybe you can go soon, but not as of yet!"

"But-"

"Shh! Trust me, pet. Mother knows best. Listen to me, darling. There are horrible things out there!" With one swift movement, the maternal figure closed the curtains, making it quite a bit darker. "So many horrible things! Men only want to hurt you! And there are poisonous snakes, sicknesses, and so much more!" Excella frowned as she acted out each calamity that could befall her adopted child.

"Mother, I-" Jill was cut off again.

"No, Jill. I'm sorry, but you cannot go out. And promise me something."

Jill looked up at her mother, blue eyes meeting hazel. "Yes..."

"Never ask me if you can leave the tower again."

"I promise, Mother..."

"Good. I love you, dear."

"I love you more."

"I love you the most." Excella kissed her child's forehead before going over to the window and descending the ladder. Once at the bottom, she called back up, "See you in a bit, my flower!" and dissapeared into the ivy covering the valley's entrance.

* * *

><p><em>"Shit, shit, shit..."<em> Chris thought as he dodged behind a hallow tree. _"Where the hell is my team?"_

"I know you're out there, Redfield!" he heard Wesker, a renowned thief and murder, call out.

Chris swore again. He wasn't quite sure what he could do to avoid his enemy. For all he knew, his team was dead, and no one liable was nearby. He took the crossbow off of his back and tied one end of a rope to it. The other end of the rope was tied around a small tree. He shot the arrow across the path so it lodged into a large oak. He braced himself, stood from the shelter of the log and yelled. "Over here, Wesker!"

Before he could turn to run, an arrow pierced into his shoulder. With a jerk, he broke off the shaft and with one hand over the injury, he ran. Wesker followed after him on horseback, unaware of the rope extended between the two trees. As his horse, Cerberous, rocketed underneath the rope, Wesker was clotheslined off.

Chris continued running, now being chased by the vicious horse alone. It whinnied, closing in on him. Before he had time to realize it, there was a lack of ground beneath Chris' feet. He tumbled down the cliff, the horse following behind. He went one way, the horse another.

"Gah!" Chris hit the ground hard. Blood continued to pour out of his injured shoulder, so he slipped behind some ivy vines to bandage it. He managed to get the arrow head out with the tip of his knife. He bandaged it and pulled his shirt sleeve down over the gauze.

A whinny caught his attention. "Dammit..." He slunk back into the cave like area that had been behind the ivy to find an open valley on the other side. In the very center, there was a large tower.

"Whoa..." He gazed up at the tower in wonder. There was another whinny in the distance, so without another moment's hesitation, he began to climb the wall of the seemingly abandoned rook-like structure.

It took him only minutes to reach the window and slip inside. Just as he was about to breath a sigh of relief, his arm was jerked behind his back and he landed hard on the floor. He struggled to push himself back up and look at his attacker. The person in question was hidden in the shadows. She stepped foreward. Her hair was about halfway down her back and her eyes were a piercing crystal blue. She wore a simple blue dress with a few designs on the short sleeves.

She spoke. "Who are you?"


	3. Chapter 3

**Sorry for the wait.**

* * *

><p><strong>Tangles in the Blood<strong>

Chris slowly climbed to his feet, speaking as he did so. "Chris Redfield! And I'm sorry for breaking into your home! I didn't know that anyone lived here!" He quickly unsheathed his sword and tossed it away from himself, and did the same with the crossbow.

She eyed him warily as he lifted his hands to show he held no other weapons. "What are you doing here?" she asked slowly, still posed in a defensive stance.

"I was being chased by a theif and murderer. I lost him but had to hide. If you would be kind enough to let me stay here until I'm sure the threat has passed, I'd be greatful! I can even pay you in some way, if you'd like," Chris spoke quickly. He saw this woman before him the lesser of the two threats. It was either be incapacitated by her skills in defense, or killed by Wesker.

Suddenly, her stance fell and her eyes lit up. "... Would you be able to take me somewhere?"

He nodded. "Within reason, yeah."

The corner of her mouth twitched up. "Really?" He nodded again and her smile became broad. "I'm Jill. And this," she bent down and allowed a chameleon to climb onto her hand, "Is Josh." Josh looked up at Chris with a frown and seemed to examine the palace guard slowly.

"Thanks for letting me hide here," Chris thanked with a smile, lowering his hands. She stared past him, out the window, not seeming to focus on his words.

"What... What's it like out there?" she mumbled, directing the question at him.

"Out where-" He was cut off.

"Jill, darling, toss down the ladder!" Excella called up to her 'adopted' child.

"Oh no!" Jill snapped out of her daydream-like state. "Mother is home! You have to hide!" She quickly picked up his sword and crossbow, shoved them into his hands, and pushed him towards the wardrobe.

"What? Why?"

"Mother will kill you if she finds you here! Hide and be quiet!" As Chris climbed into the wardrobe, Jill rushed to the window and dropped the rope ladder out. "Welcome back, Mother!" Jill's voice shook a bit from her nervousness but she quickly adjusted as Excella entered the window.

"I'm sorry about our little disagreement earlier, but you know I only want to keep you safe, darling," Excella reasoned.

"I know, Mother..." Jill looked away from her mother for a quick glance at the wardrobe. "But I did think of something else I'd like for my birthday."

"And what might that be, my dear?" Excella asked, looking into the mirror to check her make-up.

"A dress. Like yours."

Excella paused, looking through the reflection of the mirror at her adopted daughter.

"Dear, that's a very long trip. Three days, at least."

"I'll be fine here!"

"Are you sure?"

"Of course! There's plenty of food and I've got Josh for company," Jill reasoned.

"Well... I suppose I could get that for you. Yes, I believe I can."

The next ten minutes was composed of Jill preparing items for her mother's trip and their good-bye. As soon as Excella had slipped through the ivy curtain out of the valley, Jill opened the wardrobe. "Sorry that took so long."

Chris stumbled out of the wardrobe and stretched. "It's fine. I'm guessing though, that you don't have permission from your mother to go on this trip?"

Jill gave him a sheepish smile. "No... But please, could you take me where I need to go anyway?"

He paused, unsure how to answer. This woman before him had to be only a year or two younger than him yet seemed to never have been outside of the tower they stood in. "Well, where is it you need to go?"

"Just to the floating lights and back here!" She answered excitely. "I've always wanted to see the floating lights up close!"

"The thing they do for the princess?" He mumbled to himself, still pondering whether he should help her disobey her mother's orders.

"Please? Tomorrow is my birthday!"

He sighed, but let himself smile. "Yeah, I'll do it."

"Thank you, Chris!" She laughed, running over to the window. "C'mon! Let's go!"

Before Chris could say a word, she swung her legs over the end of the window sill. She scaled down the rope ladder as quickly as she could, not responding to Chris calling her from above. Her feet landed in the grass. Before he could decend the ladder, she was off and running towards the exit.


End file.
